Amazon (Not Google) Buys Twitch For 970 Million Dollars

Earlier today an official response to the numerous rumors of Twitch’s acquisition were finally verified when Twitch’s CEO, Emmett Shear, released a post on Twitch’s official blog. In the letter Shear goes onto speak as to why the acquisition provides a bright future for the top streaming company, and why Amazon is the perfect new parent company.

Like Twitch, Amazon has always strived to be something more than just a competitor, always pushing the envelope beyond whats expected, imagined, or even considered sane at times. They also understand the importance of community and driving value for the users. If you consider Twitch wasn’t even known 3 years ago, I’d say the company has been able to do just that. Mirroring a passion that it’s new parent company has demonstrated for years.

Although Twitch was definitely not hurting in it’s top spot in the streaming world, Twitch’s CEO is excited by what this new era for Twitch could mean in the grand scope of things.

We chose Amazon because they believe in our community, they share our values and long-term vision, and they want to help us get there faster. We’re keeping most everything the same: our office, our employees, our brand, and most importantly our independence. But with Amazon’s support we’ll have the resources to bring you an even better Twitch.

Bezos is spending on other media as well, including $100 million to produce TV shows to watch through Amazon’s Instant Video service, a music-streaming service and a book-subscription plan. Amazon also struck a deal with Time Warner Inc. to carry HBO shows.

Obviously, this is not the one billion dollar (or more) deal that other news outlets speculated on not too long ago. It’s also not Google. You may have noticed on our previous 10 Twitch Myths Debunked article, we were very suspicious of the Google-Twitch breaking news, considering no one was able to provide solid details and sources. Still, it seemed like the logical, albeit dreaded, progression of events. Even Gizmodo reported that Amazon’s play to steal Twitch from under Google was unexpected. We’re a bit shocked too but we’re glad to see that Twitch went with the right-fit company and not the dollar signs.

With so many recent acquisitions leaving sour tastes in the online communities tongues lately (see Oculus/Facebook, Comcast/Time Warner) I believe we may finally be seeing a merger that could truly benefit the gaming world. As long as Amazon holds up to their end of the bargain and leaved Twitch to do what it does best, this could allow for some very interesting evolution in the streaming fields. Twitch has already implemented tons of great changes such as hosting, quick export/edit, and localization options so we’re encouraged with the direction of things as they currently stand.

Agreed BFT. I feel more comfortable with Amazon at the helm over Google, though. Out of all the mega corporations I think Amazon appreciates the importance of community most. They also have the infrastructure to improve Twitch without altering its essence. AWS to improve load times? Amazon Prime integration? Yes, please! =oD

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